Toy vehicles have proven to be an extremely popular and long lasting toy category. Responding to the continued and ever increasing popularity of such toy vehicle products, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide a virtually endless array of toy vehicle types. Such toy vehicles have been provided in both unpowered and powered versions. The former usually provides a plurality of rolling wheels upon which the user moves the toy vehicle. The latter typically provides a wind-up spring driven or battery-powered electric drive mechanism which transmits operative power to one or more of the rolling wheels. In addition, toy vehicles have been provided having inertial or flywheel type drive mechanisms. In addition to powered and unpowered variations of toy vehicles, a virtually unlimited array of vehicle appearances have been provided. Such toy vehicles have also been provided in featured versions or types as well as transformable toy vehicles. Featured toy vehicles refers to vehicles having some accessory capability or interactive accessory such as toy vehicles firing weapons, climbing, launching or firing missiles, spinning or turning, or remote control capability. Transformable toy vehicles, on the other hand, refers generally to toy vehicles which undergo dramatic appearance changes by providing a plurality of articulated elements which may be configured to provide distinct appearances. For example, transformable toy vehicles which may be reconfigured to form a robot or monster have become extremely plentiful in the art.
For example, U.S. Pat. Des. No. 305,050 issued to Ishizawa sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE DOUBLE-HEADED TOY FIGURE having a plurality of articulated elements which alternatively form a double-headed dragon-like monster or a futuristic robot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,840 issued to Ogawa sets forth a TOY VEHICLE DOLL ASSEMBLY including an articulated doll and subcomponent parts capable of forming a vehicle. The doll may be configured to represent a humanoid with removable appendages and a front carriage member supporting a pair of wheels may be removably attached to the legs of the doll while a rear carriage member may be removably attached to the back of the doll body to form a toy vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,564 issued to Ogawa sets forth an ARTICULATED RECONFIGURABLE ROBOT DOLL formed of a plurality of diverse shaped pieces wherein each pair of pieces are joined together by a press fit joint. The pieces that make of the body and limbs of the robot are joined for articulate movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,006 issued to Jones, et al. sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE MOVING ANIMAL SIMULATING TOY having an upper and lower body section. The lower body section is operatively attachable to the upper body section in a plurality of configurations. A container capable of holding a liquid is included in the upper body section and a compressible bellows and nozzle are operatively connected to the container facilitating the squirting of liquid from the toy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,533 issued to Sims, et al. sets forth an INSECT SIMULATING MOBILE TOY HAVING FLAPPABLE WINGS in which a main body section forming a head and tail section are attached to form an insect body. Two wings are rotatably mounted for disposition on both lateral sides of the main body section. A mechanism is provided to cause simultaneous flapping of all wings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,391 issued to Hoshino, et al. sets forth a TOY HAVING TWO MODES OF LOCOMOTION including a body having a flywheel rotatably mounted therein. A further wheel is also rotatably mounted on the body and a plurality of appendages are mounted upon the body which may be configured alternatively to form a motorcycle or a dinosaur-like creature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,046 issued to Ohno sets forth a REVERSIBLY TRANSFORMABLE TOY BLOCK ASSEMBLY constructed to be reversibly transformed between two entirely different toy types. The block assembly may be constructed to reversibly transform between a toy vehicle or a robot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,911 issued to Murakami sets forth a TRANSFORMABLE TOY VEHICLE capable of being converted to a toy robot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,018 issued to Ohno sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE TOY ASSEMBLY adapted to be reversibly transformed to provide to toy configurations distinct from each other. In its typical form, the reconfigurable toy is constructed to provide a vehicle and a humanoid form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,680 issued to Malewicki, et al. sets forth a TRAILERABLE ROBOT FOR CRUSHING VEHICLES having a mechanical robot including hydraulically operated arms, mandible claws, neck, head and jaw resembling a giant prehistoric reptile. The mechanical robot may be reconfigured to form a trailer-like vehicle.
British Patent 2,153,242A issued to Ohno sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE TOY capable of configuration in a dinosaur form or a robotic humanoid.
British Patent 2,155,346A issued to Ohno sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE TOY AND MECHANISM THEREFOR having a plurality of interconnected members capable of configuration as a reptilian dinosaur-like monster or robot.
Examples of toys and toy vehicle like toys having feature components are found for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,034 issued to Dubois, et al. which sets forth a FIGURE TOY WITH PROJECTILE LAUNCHING MECHANISM; U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,327 issued to Ulrich, et al. which sets forth an AMUSEMENT GAME DEVICE; 4,515,571 issued to Kozuka, et al. which sets forth a MOVING TOY CAPABLE OF BEING NONPERMANENTLY ASSEMBLED; U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,071 issued to Zaruba, et al. which sets forth a COMPOSITE TOY VEHICLE ASSEMBLY; U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,440 issued to McKittrick, Jr. et al. which sets forth an ANIMATED TOY; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,349 issued to Piazza, et al. which sets forth a WINGED CREATURE.
Further examples are found in the art which employ additional toy features such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,033 issued to Droller, et al. which sets forth a FIGURE TOY WITH RAPIDLY EXTENSIBLE TONGUE having an insect-like creature with a spring-loaded extending tongue; U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,970 issued to Dubois, et al. which sets forth a FIGURE TOY WITH EXTENSIBLE HEAD PORTION having an insect-like body supporting a spring-loaded extensible head and trigger mechanism; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,586 issued to Amici, et al. which sets forth a CORD-CLIMBING CREATURE having an insect-like body through which an elongated cord extends together with a pulley apparatus for climbing the cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,336 issued to Kuhn sets forth an STRETCHABLE FIGURE EXHIBITING SLOW RECOVERY having a skin of elastic film and a filling of a high viscosity material formed in a human like body which exhibits great elongation and slow recovery from stretching.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have, in many instances, improved the art and in some cases enjoyed substantial commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved toy vehicles having interesting configuration variations.